Earth Pressure and Surface Load Effects on Buried Pipelines

Rational techniques for analyzing earth pressure and surface load effects, based on finite element analysis methods, have been developed and applied extensively to the design of buried conduits. This paper reviews the finite element analysis methods used to analyze these effects. The methods are illustrated by means of analyses of a series of buried conduits subjected to various backfill and surface loading conditions. An additional analysis was also performed to illustrate the potential importance of considering compaction-induced stresses in these types of analyses. The results show how the magnitudes of the conduit stresses induced by earth pressure and surface load effects vary with pipeline size and stiffness.